SnapShot
by The Ryuu Victoire Tea Party
Summary: The story that took place before that fateful day when the lighthouse was attacked: the story of Jade's childhood and life before the IRIS network.
1. Chapter One

This may be a one-shot. If you want me to add chapters, I can.

I do not own Beyond Good & Evil.

**SnapShot**

**_by Ryuu no Taiyo_**

"Is she gonna be ok Uncle Pey'j?" asked Jade to Pey'j, the half human, half pig that was her adopted uncle.

"I don't think so Jade…"

Jade was only nine years old, and this was one of the rare DomZ attack that had hit Hillys. She and her uncle where right outside the Akuda Bar in the Pedestrian District, Pey'j had been betting for a pearl with one of the men inside. The hovercraft was acting up again, and Mammago's was being as usual their old picky selves, refusing any other payment apart from pearls.

Those basted things were so hard to get, however. Pey'j was trying to win it from a passerby from outside the city at cards. They were playing an old game called Jeopardy, and Jade couldn't make heads or tail of the game.

This had been the first attack since…since that time when she was seven years old…

Before that she couldn't remember.

The Hillyans were always talking about a threat on the planet. The peaceful planet had no means of protecting themselves, and although the cities of Hillys had shields, the areas outside were devoid of any safety.

Jade's long black hair trailed behind her, and the shorts and T-shirt she was wearing were blackened by the dust caused by the nearby explosions.

Before the small crowd laid a young girl, motionless, having been caught in the midst of an explosion. Pey'j put a hand on Jade's shoulder, and didn't stop more people from blocking the view of the child.

Jade looked at Pey'j with bright green eyes wide with some sort of fear.

"Is she dead, Uncle Pey'j?"

Pey'j looked to the ground, unsure of what to say to the girl. She was more mature than most children her age, and exceptionally bright, but he didn't know how he was to respond.

But Jade understood.

There was no need for an answer.

Hanging to her side, suspended from her opposite shoulder was a camera. It was heavy, and slightly too big for the small girl, but she had it with her at all times.

Hesitant, she took it in her small hands and pressed a small red button.

She looked through it, and carefully took a picture of the girl, before an obnoxiously large man blocked her view. Turning around, she saw what was left of the alien meteor. She took a picture of it.

She looked at the burning building.

She was about to take a shot of it too, but Pey'j put his hand on the lenses, blocking the sight from view. Jade looked at her uncle questioningly.

"That's enough. You shouldn't waste your film Jade."

"But I want to be a reporter when I grow up. I have to take pictures of important things!" she said fierily in response.

Pey'j shook his head.

"Not this time. This is too much for you."

"But-"

"Please Jade. We have to get back to the lighthouse."

He started walking down the stairs that would lead him towards the parking lot where the hovercraft was. Soldiers were making their way towards all of the victim. Jade looked around, wondering what was happening. Wondering how could this be happening.

She had thought they were safe from the outside wars, far from the planet. Apparently not.

She looked at Pey'j who was almost done the set of stairs.

"But what if they attack again?"

"Huh?" her uncle grunted.

Jade ran after him, and jumped down the stairs three at a time.

"We don't have a shield!"

Pey'j looked at the young girl pensively.

"They probably won't attack again. But you're right, Jade. We'll have to do something about that."

Jade almost smiled. She loved being right.

"But first things first, we have to get back to the hovercraft."

"Ok." Jade followed her uncle.

They reached the parking where they retrieved the keys from the Doorman, as they called him, and entered their hovercraft.

Pey'j sat down at the steering wheel, and started driving out of the district, into the boulevard and finally out of the city.

When the lighthouse came into view, Jade asked.

"Do you think that girl had parents and brothers and sisters?"

Pey'j sighed.

"Yup."

"They must be awfully sad then."

"Listen Jade. It's…It's possible they died too. From what I heard, her family lived on top of the building that exploded."

"Oh."

Jade was silent.

"Why did the DomZ attack?"

"That is something that you're gonna learn when you're older."

"I can't wait until I'm older!"

The hovercraft docked at their island dock and Jade skipped up the ramp and out towards the lighthouse.

Pey'j looked at the young girl as she left, and slowly made way to follow her.

"I can Jade…I can."


	2. Chapter Two

I didn't get any reviews for chappie one but I don,t really care. I love this story too much to let it go and I had to start writing part two!

**Disclaimer: **Me no own Beyond Good & Evil. Me own chopsticks though. evil grin Mhuahahahaaha! fear chopsticks of doooooom!

**SnapShot **

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**ChapterTwo**

Jade was sitting under the tree on the far end of the island, watching the red fireflies dance together amongst the leaves. Jade smiled, her mind so calm that it had forgotten the previous day's events.

It was all over Hillys: something about aliens and DomZ and the need for a military force superior than the regular army.

She sighed.

It was too much for a girl her age. She was only nine years old.

Jade pulled back her long hair off her face. The sun had set an hour or so ago, and Selene was shining in all her splendor about the planet.

Jade knew most of the stars by heart, but was too tired to even bother counting them. Not too far in front of her she could see the lights of Mammago's and the Pedestrian District's luminous aura caused by all energy the city used.

Above her, she could see the lighthouse's rays occasional passing.

She closed her eyes.

Everything was so calm. It was almost too easy to forget the explosions, the screams and the terror of the attack…

Her eyes shot open as she heard Pey'j's usual swearing come from the dock's entrance.

He was going to fuss again.

She just knew it.

She decided to give a run for it and try to reach the lighthouse before he got outside.

Grabbing her fetish camera laying beside her on the dry cold grass, she ran as fast as her short yet slender legs could carry her, and was about to reach the lighthouse entrance when…

"Jade! What in tarnation are you doing awake? It's dangerous at night with all those beast's wanderin' around and…"

"I was just relaxing…" she looked down, looking at her bare feet.

She suddenly realized that she had forgotten her shoes by the tree.

"Com'on! Go inside! Are you hungry? We should have some Starkos left from this morning…"

"No thanks Uncle." She sighed. Walking behind him as they entered the cozy warm lighthouse.

"Well, then maybe ye' should go to bed. I'm gonna be listenin' to the radio fer' a while and then maybe work on the…on the radio transmitter."

Jade looked at her uncle for a moment as he lied down on the mattress by the window facing the fire.

"Can I stay up with you?"

"Jade, it's getting' late and yer' should be in bed so…"

Jade looked sideways.

"I left my shoes outside…"

"Ye' can get them in the morning. Right now you're goin' to bed!"

"Alright. Goodnight Uncle Pey'j."

"Goodnight Jade."

She walked up the ramp to the second floor and gulped as she realized how dark it was. Feeling her way to the door to her room, she entered and put down her camera on her desk filled with papers and old photographs (she practiced her picture-taking often) and head to an old chest where she pulled out a large T-shirt that reached below her knees and that said 'Propaganda' on it. It was one of Pey'j's old shirts, with no doubt, but it was clean and didn't smell too bad so she wore it, taking off her other clothes and throwing them over near the laundry basket. Pey'j never fussed over cleanliness, so she basically didn't bother and didn't care.

She climbed up to her bed and sat on it, looking out her window on the bay.

She liked the view, and she could see the fireflies from here. She suddenly froze, however when a seagull rushed by right in front of the window.

Catching her breath and laughing at her stupidity, she was about to curl up under the covers when the forgot her camera was on the desk.

She never separated herself from that camera, not for even five minutes.

She hurriedly jumped off the bed and ran towards her desk, picked it up before running back to the bed.

As she was climbing up on the bed, she noticed something flash in the sky.

Pressing the red button, she held the camera up to her face and looked out the window, peering at the red, fiery light in the sky.

Was it a star?

**Click.**

She looked at the digital reconstruction of the picture on the back of her camera.

"I should go tell Pey'j…" she whispered to herself, and jumped off the bed (again!) nearly losing her balance as both her hands grasped the heavy camera. She dashed downstairs.

"Uncle Pey'j! Uncle Pey'j!"

But he wasn't downstairs. The radio was off and the fire was dying down, the embers still radiating some heat.

She decided to go take a look in his workshop.

Going outside, she noticed the red star thing had gotten bigger.

"Uncle Pey'j!" she yelled, heading downstairs. She heard a great grinding noise and it was as if a large boulder had fallen in the water.

Pey'j met her halfway down the corridor to the dock, annoyed and out of breath.

"Jade! Ye should be in bed!"

"But Uncle-"

"Jade, that's enough. It's been a long day and-"

"Please listen uncle! There's something big outside! Look!"

Pey'j rolled his eyes but nonetheless followed the excited girl outside.

The whole area was enlightened in a red and the field armadillo, usually a lazy creature who never moved, scampered by across them at full speed to hide somewhere behind them.

Jade looked around, marveled at the sight. Pey'j walked halfway towards the lighthouse and started turning around, looking everywhere.

"Uncle Pey'j! Look!"

Jade pointed to at the source of the light. It was so brilliant it made it look like it was midway, but instead of white light it was red. A bloody red.

Pey'j ran in front of Jade to protect her from the light, but Jade was already mesmerized.

She could see what it was now. It was a large, black ship, with at least ten stellar motors.

It suddenly slowed down dramatically, enough to dodge a tower rising above the pedestrian district. Pey'j visibly looked relieved when he realized the light was aimed at the lighthouse, and Jade crawled beside him, lifting the camera to her face.

"Jade!"

"What? I just want one picture!"

Pey'j rolled his eyes.

She zoomed in as far as she could, which wasn't very far, and followed the ship as it slowed down, circling the pedestrian district, probably waiting for some authorization to land.

"An intergalactic ship…" Jade heard Pey'j mutter, and she looked up at him curiously, "They shouldn't be landing here… They should be landing somewhere closer to the Capital or Stellar city…"

Jade knew that the Pedestrian district was only one of the few major cities forming major centers around the planet Hillys. The Capital was known as the most important city on Hillys, with Stellar city close behind. Most of the flights that dealt with intergalactic and interplanetary flights were from there. Yet it was rare to see a ship of that size on Hillys, let alone on the Pedestrian district.

Jade saw the ship land slowly down into the city…

"Com'on Jade!" yelled Pey'j who was already instead the lighthouse. "Let's listen to the radio. This has got te' be on the news now…!"

"Coming!"

"People of Hillys!" the broadcast reported. "We have exclusive news right from the Pedestrian District, Hillys. A mysterious ship has arrived at our gates with a bang! The governor of Hillys is on her way, and the mayor of the District is having a discussion with the captain of the ship…More news to come after the break…"

Pey'j was silent as he sat on the mattress in the main room of the lighthouse. He sighed.

Jade stared into the fire, absently listening to the commercial that played from the sponsors of Hillys News.

"Uncle Pey'j…What do you think the ship is?"

"I think…I think…"

Jade looked at her uncle who seemed to have aged ten years in a moment.

"I think that ship has somethin' to do with the attack."

Jade stayed silent, but seconds later she could feel a yawn coming.

"We're back with more revolutionary news about tonight's happening! The ship is a rebel ship, the last of an army that was almost destroyed by the DomZ as well as their home planet. On that ship are survivors as well as soldiers, with technology to rival the alien invaders and a thirst for revenge against our common enemy! More with our Governor, who has just arrived!"

A female voice resonated clearly over the air, yet her tone was even and neutral, not giving away to the joyful hope the radio host had said but nether a suspicion.

"Citizens of Hillys. We have been offered alliance and a needed protection from a new ally, the Alpha Sections soldiers, against a foe greater than we have ever seen before. I ask you to treat the Alpha Sections as friends and guests. With their help, we will rid our peaceful planet of the threat the DomZ are making forever!"

Jade smiled and looked at Pey'j.

"We have allies now! They are going to help us fight the aliens!"

"Yes. I suppose so…"

"What is it?" Jade stopped skipping around and looked at her uncle questioningly.

"Jade! Ye should be in bed!"

Jade bit her lip. She'd been hoping he'd forget.

"Young lady, you better get your rear end to bed," Jade giggled at his choice of words, "or I'll be very disappointed."

Jade shot upwards and hugged her uncle goodnight.

"'night Uncle Pey'j."

"Goodnight Jade."

Jade ran up the ramp, before stopping, thinking a second, checking her empty hands and running back to pick her camera up and rushed upstairs.

Pey'j chuckled and looked out the window, where he could see the lights of the city that had just woken up from all of the commotion. His smile faded.

'_Somethin' ain't right…Tomorrow, I'm gonna call up the old crowd…These 'Alpha Sections' are a bit too convenient…A bit too convenient…' _


	3. Chapter Three

Alright, I'm so happy I got reviews! Yay! I love this story! It's so much fun to write!

I do not own Jade or Pey'j or the game Beyond Good & Evil.

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Three **

Solaris, the Hillys sun, was high in the sky when Jade woke up. She rubbed her eyes groggily and stretched, scratching the back of her neck.

Getting up, she walked over to the bathroom that was right next to her door and placed her hand on the switch to open the door.

She washed her face and decided not to take a bath right now. The sun was calling to her outside and in her opinion; a bright sun was perfect for photography.

She walked back to her large room and put some clothes on, opting for a pair of green pants and a white tank-top, grabbed the camera from her messy bed and put some of the cover back in order.

She walked downstairs, famished, and saw happily that Pey'j had left a K-Bups for her. Skipping over to the container where the food was stored (called a Refrion) and she took the sole K-Bups among all the Starkos.

The radio was on, and it was replaying the speech the governor had given last night.

Jade shook her head, shaking her long black hair around.

She decided to go find Pey'j and she knew just where to find him. Heading outside, she readied her camera for any good pictures.

She had to be prepared at all times. She was going to be the best reporter one day, with her own company and she'd take pictures of everything and place them for the world to see.

Right now she practised. Even if it was just a butterfly, she had to learn to capture it perfectly.

But there was nothing to shoot.

Sighing, she closed her camera and skipped over to the entrance to the Hangar and Pey'j's workshop.

Entering the stuffy and breaking down workshop, she said hello to Pey'j who was working on something at his desk.

"Hi Uncle."

"Hey. Jade. Didn't hear ya comin'."

He was extremely entranced in his work right now. Jade went to the brand new M-Disk Reader.

"Uncle. How much does an M-Disk reader cost?"

"A whole handful of units Jade."

Jade poked the slot, and quickly retrieved it as the machine made a bizarre noise.

"Jade! Don't break it!" he scolded not looking up from the object he was working on.

"Alright."

She looked around.

"There we go!" Pey'J sat back in the chair that creaked and croaked dangerously.

"What is it?"

She eyed the brown-red object, interested. It was round-ish with a circle on the surface.

The half-pig handed it to her.

Jade took it and poked the surface.

"What is it?" she repeated.

"It's a Synthetic-Atomic-Compressor. Or SAC."

"What does it do? Where did you get it?" she asked.

"I err…made it! It's a store hold for all of your items."

Pey'j took her camera from the desk and placed it right above the circle.

In a flash of soft white light, each atom that formed the camera separated and entered the SAC.

Jade almost dropped the SAC in horror.

"What did it do! My camera!"

"Relax. See this button? Press it."

"Ok…" Jade muttered uncertainly, fiddling with the SAC (which was to her amazement, weightless even after having eaten her priceless camera) and pressed the button.

The camera was reconstructed before her eyes and Pey'j caught it before it fell down.

Jade grabbed the camera back and checked it through, suspicious for any glitches or errors. She could find nothing wrong.

"Is it for me?" she asked Pey'j, nudging the SAC.

"Yup." He said, smiling. "It's to help you carry around that blastedly heavy camera."

Jade grinned and put the camera back into the SAC once more.

"Thanks Uncle Pey'j!"

She attached the SAC to her side and jumped and twirled in a circle.

Pey'j almost sighed.

"Anyways. Did'ja eat yet?"

"Yup. I ate the K-Bups!"

"All of it!"

Jade smiled and nodded. Pey'j sighed.

"There goes lunch."

Jade's smile grew.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Pey'j said teasingly, ruffling her hair. Jade pretended to be miffed.

Pey'j walked out of the workshop and Jade followed faithfully, wondering what he was going to do next.

"I need ter' go into town for the day, Jade. Wanna come?"

"Ok!" Jade replied immediately. "We might be able to see those new Alpha-section guys."

Pey'j rolled his eyes and was about to say more, but he stopped. He went down the ramp unto the dock and entered the hovercraft, fixing up the machinery inside a little bit.

Jade went to the edge of the water and stuck her hand inside the cool liquid, making little ripples as she flicked her hand back and forward quickly.

The fish inside the shadowed water darted away far from her hand and the dock, and even farther when Pey'j got the hovercraft's motor running, causing the hovercraft and dock to vibrate.

"COM'ON JADE!" her uncle yelled over the deafening racket. Jade hoped inside the hovercraft and positioned herself against the wall, sitting on one of the side seats as the door closed. There was a lot of smoke inside and the hovercraft smelled slightly of smoked ham. Jade wrinkled her nose.

She didn't like that smell one bit.

She made it a point not to eat ham or beef. She sometimes had chicken, but kept her 'meaty' needs satisfied with fish. Smoked ryukoi was delish!

Pey'j drove the hovercraft out the Hangar and into the bay. Pulling down the accelerator, Jade grabbed the edge of her seat as the hovercraft sped across the water. Pey'j yelled something, but Jade couldn't catch what he said as they hit a rather large wave.

They entered the large gateway into the city, and made their way over to the entrance to the Pedestrian District and out of the Main Canal. Docking the hovercraft in the parking, they got out, Jade silently following Pey'j as he made his way over to the news distributor.

Jade looked at some other kids hanging around next to the giant Television screen. They were all older than her, and one of the black-haired boys noticed her, and raised an eyebrow. He had long bangs that fell in front of his face, and his clothes were black: he was wearing a black hoodie and a pair of baggy pants.

She couldn't decipher his age, but he was the younger one of the four. The others soon followed his gaze and looked at the nine year old and snickered and laughed.

Jade frowned.

But the lighting was perfect…

She looked around, Pey'j was still talking with the half-bird, half human working at the news stand, and took out the camera from her SAC. Holding it up to her face, she paused, reflecting and hesitating, but decided to take the photo anyways. Zooming up on the boy, she looked at him and gazed at his face, waiting for the perfect position…

**Click!**

The boy shot a look at her and looked puzzled.

Jade gulped and put her camera back in the SAC. Pey'j asked her to come along, and they walked over to the far end of the place and went down a flight of stairs into Fountain Plaza.

They both walked over to Ming-Tsu's. Pey'j asked her to wait patiently outside so she could be spared of some 'borin' blitherin' business'. Jade nodded and he entered the shop.

She sighed and pulled out the camera again, checking the screen for the picture. Jade looked at it for a while then smiled.

'_It's a perfect picture.'_

She nodded fervently, forgetting a moment where she was.

She sighed and looked up, wondering why Pey'j was taking so long.

She looked sideways, making sure no one was there. The sun was high in the center of the sky, and it was sometime around early afternoon, the moment right after lunch when the sun is the hottest. Most people would be either inside sleeping or out by the water swimming.

She sighed.

'_As usual the best in her domain, action reporter Jade has once again been called upon to investigate the top-secret affairs being conducted by the renown Pey'j…'_ Jade fantasized as she entered the shop as stealthy as a nine-year old could.

She crouched down and hid behind a box. Then she peeked over the top and noticed that the room was empty. She jumped over the box and did a forward tumble, arriving just in front of an aquarium…_just_ barely knocking it over…

Gulping as she realized how lucky she was, she walked on tiptoes to an open door at the back. She could hear some voices…she recognized Pey'j's voice and a heavy voice that she supposed was Ming-Tsu's…

Exactly what they were saying, she couldn't tell.

Just a bit closer…

The floor beneath her creaked.

Jade blinked. Then gulped.

Then tried to retreat…lightly…lightly…

Creeeeeaaaak.

Jade sighed as silently as she could as one thought crossed her mind: _busted!_

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice asked behind her.

Jade jumped up and forgetting all of her 'spying-ness' as she ran towards the exit. Pey'j and Ming-Tsu's voices had died down and they were no doubt listening to what was going on.

Jade realized who had spoken to her, and he was the same boy she had taken a picture of in front of the news stand.

"Hey you! I recognise you! You're the girl with the camera!" Jade glared, "What are you doing?" he said, joining her at the door.

Jade looked really out of placed and kept on moving her hands around nervously, pulling her long hair behind her ears.

"Relax would you?" he looked at her weirdly.

Jade noticed Ming-Tsu walk out and come over.

"Did she take anything?"

"I don't know."

Jade piped up, now a bit scared.

"I'm sorry! I didn't do anything I swear! I was looking for uncle Pey'j!"

"Oh. You are Jade then?"

Jade swallowed, eyes wide as she nodded as fast as humanly possible.

"You're the pig's niece?"

Jade looked furiously at the boy.

"Pey'j is not a 'pig'!" she huffed.

"You need your eyes checked." The boy rolled his eyes.

"Jade? What in tarnation is goin' on here?"

"It is alright, friend." Ming-Tsu said. "Jade was looking for you."

"I told you to wait outside!"

"Yeah but I waited like an hour!"

"Com'on! It was maybe twenty minutes."

Jade just glared.

"Com'on kid." The pig rolled his eyes, "I need to stop at the Akuda Bar. Man I got thirsty all of a sudden."

Jade crossed her arms.

Putting on her best 'Jade-is-not-happy' look, she followed Pey'j as they left the shop, Pey'j said goodbye to Ming-Tsu and Jade stayed threateningly silent at the boy's questioning glance. They walked across Fountain Square and made their way up to the Akuda Bar.

Pey'j looked at Jade after a moment.

"What happened back there Jade?"

"I went in looking for you. And this boy comes in and thinks I'm trying to steal something!"

"You weren't spyin' on me?"

"No!" Jade said quickly, feigning disbelief and indignance.

"Alright Jade." Pey'j said sighing as they entered the bar, "Man I'm thirsty."

Mo looked at them entering and smiled, lowering his shaded glasses as they entered.

"Hey Pey'j!"

The other usual people also acknowledged Pey'j's presence, but Pey'j simply sat at the bar and asked for a beer. Mo asked about the lighthouse and how it had fared in yesterday's attack, and Jade was drawn out of her little world and jumped up and a stool and listened intently to the conversation.

"The DomZ are planning more attacks on Hillys according to the Alpha Sections." Mo said as he wiped the bar before putting a tall beer glass in front of Pey'j.

"I don't trust them Alpha-whatsit. They're way too convenient."

"Well, I think that we're pretty damn lucky. They are installing shields and selling them to those who live in remote areas."

Jade smiled. "Pey'j! We should get one!"

"Jade, I know we should, but we don't have the credits!"

Why wasn't she a famous rich reporter already?

Jade sat down.

"Uncle, can I have some Juice?"

"Yeah. Mo, one Juice fer the little lady."

"One Juice for the little lady coming up!"

Jade blushed slightly at the title Pey'j had given her.

Mo gave her a glass of Juice and she drank it down. It tasted good.

"Well…I don't know. I say we accept them fer now but stand on our guards and not become too dependent."

"We're not all pessimists like you Pey'j. The Alpha's are from a planet that was overcome by the DomZ. They escaped and are giving their help to other planets who need help."

Jade looked at her uncle's frown but he didn't answer anything. Instead he chugged down his drink as fast as possible.

There was a silence as the bar's customary music started playing.

The traveler with the pearl entered the bar at that moment and Pey'j got off the chair and rushed to challenge the traveler to an other round of Jeopardy.

Jade sipped her juice.

Mo took Pey'j's empty glass and put it in the sink, washing it clean.

Jade finished her Juice and went over to the table where Pey'j and the traveler were playing Jeopardy, and tried to learn how to play by looking at them, unconscious that at that very moment, the future of her planet was hanging by a few weak, thin threads.


	4. Chapter Four

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter** **Four**

Jade looked at the fly that was flying around the room, completely ignoring the radio's show. She was incredibly lonely and bored. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and yet there was nothing to do and no one to see.

Living alone with her uncle was fun, and the island was fun to run around and although going to the lighthouse's summit was forbidden, she often snuck up there for the view and dreamed of fame and fortune, and she would buy a shield for the island so that they would be safe.

Jade dreamed and smiled happily but was soon drawn out when she heard an alien voice one the radio.

"Hillyans!" Jade frowned. Who the heck was he? His voice was deep and scratchy. She listened to the long and complicated speech, slightly distracted as she was trying to find out who was speaking. But then she learned from the usual radio host that this was Official Kehk, the leader of the Alpha Sections.

Jade frowned. He didn't sound like a nice guy.

But to her nine-year-old mind where miracles are an everyday occurrence (more or less), she believed the purity of the intention of these newcomers, and whowever sold shields to the population whereas their own government had illegalized the sales (from what she had heard anyways) was made of pure gold in her eyes.

Jade sighed again as the usual news was broadcast from the radio. Getting up she turned off the radio and walked over to the stove where she kicked it open (the handle had come off shortly after they bought it, so Pey'j found a new and original way of opening it: pure brute force). Looking in she took a freshly baked Starkos and she gulped it down avidly.

She walked outside, twirling around, feeling delighted as the wind played in her long black hair.

She didn't let all this talk of war get to her. She was a kid, and decided to focus on being happy and not let down. After a moment of skipping around, she fell to the ground and wondered what was taking Pey'j so long.

He had decided to go back to Mammago's that very afternoon after winning the Pearl and had dropped off Jade at the Lighthouse. Jade sighed again. She was never allowed to do anything. Pey'j probably considered her a bother and nothing but a little kid and…

Jade lied on her back staring at the blue cloudless sky.

Pey'j didn't think like that. Pey'j was…well he was uncle Pey'j.

Jade closed her eyes. She didn't know who her parents were, and it obviously hurt Pey'j to talk and think about them, so she didn't bother him about them.

Was her mother beautiful and kind? Was her father generous and handsome?

Or maybe they were horrible people?

Jade didn't like that fact. She always thought her parents were heroes, courageous people who had saved her life by…she didn't know. She didn't know anything!

She frowned suddenly. Pey'j had always said…that she would know everything. But when she would be older.

Jade had always accepted this and never really gave it a second thought. But it still bothered her that she had no idea where she came from. According to what she had gathered by hints or clues (or facts she interpreted as clues) she wasn't born on Hillys, and Pey'j and her were not actually related, but he had taken her under his care under the wish of her parents. And she was back to square one: who were her parents?

"Jade? You sleepin'?"

Jade shot up from her position and shot upwards, running towards her uncle.

"So? What happened?"

"Ugh. That Mammago is a crook hideout, I'll bet. The price went up since yesterday. They're asking fer' two pearls."

"What?" Jade exclaimed.

"But I got what I wanted." Pey'j's face showed to a viciously pleased expression.

Jade looked curiously at her uncle.

"Anyways. What's fer' dinner?"

"Dinner?" Jade echoed, "It's too early for dinner."

"Let's eat early. I'm hungry."

Jade giggled again.

They both entered the lighthouse, but to Pey'j's dismay, their was no food. Jade had eaten the last Starkos earlier and they were going to have to go into town for food.

They went back towards the hangar and both went inside the hovercraft, the motor running smoothly, for the first time in weeks.

The sun was starting to descend in the sky, it was lower in the west than it was when Jade had been sky gazing.

The motor was brand new, and was quieter, and they quickly crossed over on the smooth water towards the Main Canal entrance. Slowing down the hovercraft, Pey'j steered it carefully to the right lane of the canal before then turning sharply to go to the pedestrian district.

They headed over to the little market on Fountain Square. The market was held by Kyura, a kind old lady who sold the best food in the area. Jade knew her granddaughter Nouri only vaguely. They had taken the H.P.T. together more than a year ago.

The H.P.T. stood for the dreaded Hillyan Placement Test, a test that every Hillyan had to undergo at least two or three times, four times for those who wanted to pursue a career in Scientific and Medical Research or Practice, or those who wanted to join the Military Force. The first test was taken by nine or eight year olds who were tested of their knowledge (the basics of math and reading were taught by the parents or guardian of the child) before they could enter the Primary School where they were taught more about the language, math and other Arts and Sciences. The second test was taken by either fourteen or fifteen year olds and it granted entrance to the Secondary School, which was more sophisticated, but unlike Primary, which was financed by the government and free to the population, this second establishment was expensive. But as many substantial jobs needed a Secondary education, most people saved up money for their children and hoped to have enough the moment their children would be of age.

The Tertiary School (or University, as it was sometimes called by those who preferred the it's ancient name) which was granted access to those who passed the third H.P.T. and was a difficult school which granted their graduates access to practically any job, excluding jobs in the Military and in Sciences were a fourth H.P.T. was needed at the end of an extra two or three years after the usual length of Tertiary School. Tertiary School was incredibly expensive, and only those who had the means could get in. Some people preferred graduating from Secondary school, get a job, wait a few years, then try the third H.P.T. to enter the third schooling system. There was no Tertiary School in the Pedestrian District, but there were quite a few on the outskirts of Stellar City and the Capital.

Kyura served Pey'j a few K-Bups (they weren't too expensive these days, only 235 units), and Nouri and Jade exchanged hellos and a few other words.

Nouri had taken the first H.P.T. twice, the first time, she was eight and she had failed because of her difficulty in math. But it was understandable; Nouri lived with her busy grandmother who had little time to concentrate on teaching her everything needed for the first test.

Jade was going to enter Primary School a few weeks after her tenth birthday (the official age to enter Primary School). That would be in two months.

"Thanks for the discount, Kyura!" Pey'j said as they left.

"Gift from an old friend!" Kyura answered, "Come back again!"

"Bye Nouri!" Jade said as they left the Square.

"Bye Jade."

Jade ran ahead.

"Pey'j? What's your job?"

"I'm a mechanic, Jade. You know that."

"But I never see you work!"

"That's because things are harder these days. Kyura may sell her food cheap, but it's only because she doesn't want to lose her customers. She wouldn't survive if she did."

Jade nodded, the gravity of his words reaching her little by little.

"I'm thinking of finding a job in the factory on the other side of town."

"What?" Jade cried, opposing this swift and major change in their life.

"I can barely manage to pay the bills Jade. And unless I can get a new job, I can't afford the lighthouse. Ye' don't want to go live in the city, do ye'?"

"I love the lighthouse!" Jade's eyes were wide with concern and fear.

"I know Jade. Me too." His eyes darkened. "Damn this war." He muttered.

Jade looked at the sky.

Pey'j walked someway towards the parking before realizing Jade had stopped walking.

"What's up Jade?"

"The sky…"

"I know that! What are ye' lookin' at?"

"The sky!"

Pey'j glanced upwards, and his face paled dramatically.

"Another attack! Jade, we have to get out of the city!"

He grabbed Jade's hand and ran to the nearby parking, and jammed the hovercraft in full gear, putting the engines to use and speeding up dramatically out and turning left to leave the city.

Using a Speed Boost Capsule he always kept with him during emergencies, he managed to get out of the city right before the gates closed and the sirens started ringing full blast.

The sky darkened and a vortex formed as meteors started falling. Jade closed her eyes and clutched her seat, praying.

'_Please let us live. Please let us live. I don't want to die. I don't want to DIE!'_ Her mind was screaming and her thoughts bounced chaotically against the confines of her head, but not one escaped, and Jade seemed calm in appearance.

'_Please…'_

The hovercraft entered their island's hangar, missing being crushed by a meteor by seconds, and the door closed behind them, shutting the noise out a little. Jade breathed in relief.

They got out of the hovercraft, Pey'j put away the food on a table on the side of a wall and Jade sat down on the steps in silence, waiting for the attack to end.

Pey'j looked at Jade sideways, and sighed. He knew why it was happening.

Did he have the right to burden an innocent nine year-old of the truth of her existence? To curse her happiness and her life? She was so much better off in ignorance, safe from harm as they disappeared from the eyes of those who pursued her.

After what seemed like ages, the noises caused by the explosions died down.

Pey'j was not looking her way.

Jade got up and decided to go outside to see what was going on.

"Jade?" Pey'j asked when she got to the door. "What are you-Jade! Jade come back!"

"I'm just going to look!" she yelled back.

"Jade!" he got up and ran after her, but she was already outside.

The sky was not yet clear. But their was nothing descending from the clouds. Pey'j sighed.

"It ain't safe yet Jade. Let's go back in."

**Braaaam.**

"AAAH! Jade yelled.

The green DomZ meteor had fallen inches in front of her, and it had sunken deep into the ground. Jade gulped loudly, mouth and eyes wide open.

"Jade! What are you doing? Get out of there!"

She didn't move.

"Jade!"

Jade could only hear echoes of voices all around her…

The next thing she could see was the sky, then darkness…

"JADE!"


	5. Chapter Five

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Five**

The first thing she saw was the ceiling of her bedroom. She was lying on top of her covers, on her bed. Getting up, dazed, she tried to recall what was going on.

'The meteor…there was a DomZ attack…' she thought, her head heavy, 'then…I don't remember…' 

She got up shakily, almost losing her bearings as her feet touched the lukewarm floor.

She was about to wake out of her room when panic overtook her. Why was it so silent? Was she dreaming? What was going on? But most importantly, where was her camera?

She reached instinctively to her side and touched the SAC. Breathing deeply, she was relieved. She had her camera, no matter what happened.

Going out of her room, she glanced out the window and saw that Solaris was setting. The sky was back to normal.

Where was Pey'j?

Going downstairs, she was surprised to see Pey'j and a woman in a blue dress talking together.

Pey'j noticed her first, and smiled.

"There ye' are! Sleep well?"

"What's going on? What happened?" Jade asked frantically.

"You passed out. The shock of the meteor crash was too much for you." The woman answered.

Jade looked at the woman, frowning slightly. Too much for her? That made her sound weak. She wasn't weak.

"Who are you?" Jade asked.

Pey'j looked embarrassed at her rude behavior.

"Jade!" he scolded in a very un-Pey'j-like manner. "This is Mrs. Kaerina."

"Why is she here?"

"I am a doctor." Responded the woman coldly, sensing Jade's dislike.

"Oh." That explained some.

"Jade, you okay?" Pey'j asked.

"I have a headache." Jade said, which was the truth. But it was a small headache, like a faint buzzing in her head that wouldn't stop.

She rubbed her eyes. "And I'm hungry." She said rather sheepishly.

Mrs. Kaerina nodded. "That's a good sign. If she wasn't hungry, I would have wanted to bring her to the office to make a few tests." Pey'j looked slightly uneasy, but it was well hidden and Jade barely caught a glimpse of it.

The doctor got up professionally and nodded.

"About my payment, you have a month to pay it, Pey'j. I understand your situation." Pey'j nodded.

"Jade." Mrs. Kaerina nodded to the young girl who said goodbye in a small voice. She walked out of the lighthouse and down to the hangar where her ship was docked. Pey'j looked after her for a moment, before turning back to Jade.

"I called the doctor just in case, Jade. You never know."

Jade looked put off. "I'm fine. I'm not that weak."

"I know. But the meteor might have radiations or worse, it could've traumatized you."

Jade sighed. It was no use fighting with Pey'j when it came to her health or safety. He always had excuses that were hard to fight back.

"Com'on Jade. You must be hungry."

"Yeah…"

She ate a few K-Bups and by the time they were finished, Solaris had set low into the horizon.

She asked Pey'j what happened to the meteors that had landed on the island. They had been picked up by the Alpha Sections shortly after she had passed out. The Alpha Sections had also offered to install a shield on top of the lighthouse, but Pey'j couldn't pay them for the service, so they had offered him a deal. The installment would be free, but every time they used the shield, it would cost them 300 units.

Pey'j had accepted, grumbling, and had watched three Alpha Sections install the shield on the summit of the lighthouse and another install the switch that would activate it from the base.

It had taken them a good three hours. By then, the doctor had already been sent for, Pey'j was worried when Jade wouldn't wake up.

"I was out for three hours?" Jade exclaimed, barely believing her ears.

"Yep." Jade finished her K-Bups in silence.

She had been out for three hours…She didn't know what to think. Was it 'cool' that she had fainted? It was good bragging material…but then again it could make her sound weak…

She wasn't tired though. She still had a slight headache but it was survivable.

Pey'j offered to let her into his workshop and she would help him. Jade had nothing better to do so she accepted.

They went down into his workshop and he offered to adjust her SAC a bit more (and at the same time copy it into another little hunk of junk he had 'found' to make another one for him). She agreed and took out the camera from it before she let him hack it a bit.

Sighing, she sat down against the wall and asked if there was anyway she could help, but he answered that at the moment, no, there wasn't, so she just started playing with her camera. She deleted bad shots and checked her mail (a feature she had discovered by accident not too long before) but there was nothing special. She looked at the news for a while on the TV too, listening as the Alpha Section commander was assuring the Hillyans that the attacks were not going to last because they were going to be successful in destroying the threat.

Jade sighed. Why were the DomZ so mean? Why did they attack Hillys?

The two spent the evening together, after a while, Pey'j realized her boredom and tried to have her help him, and together they upgraded her SAC and made a new Synthetic Atomic Compressor for him. After they went back to the lighthouse and Jade went to bed. Pey'j stayed up for a while, lighting a fire in the chimney and listening to the radio, thinking about that day. In two months, Jade would start school, and he was worried. What if something happened and he wasn't there? There was something incredible buried inside her, but it hadn't manifested itself yet. If he was lucky, it never would, but luck never quite favored Pey'j that much.

Going to the fridge and eating a Starkos, he wondered what he was going to do the next day. Jade needed friends. Kids to play with. Growing up by herself like this wasn't healthy, his mind decided. There was nothing wrong about Jade, she was strong and intelligent for her age but that was because he spent a lot of time with her and focused on her a lot. He tried to be as good of a guardian he could be. Her parents had placed her under his care, and he would do the best to raise her the best he could in their memory.

But she needed friends to play with. He didn't want her to grow up in an anti-social way.

Sighing, he went back down to his workshop, and sent an email from there to his friend Frank. He had two sons, if his memory served well; they were about Jade's age.

The next day Pey'j brought Jade into the Pedestrian District rather early. Jade was still half asleep and Pey'j was thirsty. They went to the Akuda Bar, and Pey'j presented Jade to his friend Frank, a shark-man. He was a half shark and half human hybrid. His two sons were there: the youngest, Francis, was ten, and Rufus, the eldest was twelve. Rufus wasn't very nice, and treated Jade like a little inferior pipsqueak, which got Jade fuming. Francis was a show-off, but he liked Jade well enough when she showed him pictures she had taken of the explosions and the meteors.

Frank and Pey'j talked over quite a few beers while Francis and Jade played different sort of games, all invented by Jade and involved 'spies, DomZ and neutralizing canons'.

They eventually made there way upstairs and Jade had never been up there. They eventually ended up exploring the rooms. One was locked. The other was a closet, which was empty apart from a locker that neither Jade nor Francis could open, and the other was an empty room.

Rufus joined them after a while. When Jade mentioned a racing game, Rufus grinned rather evilly and told them that races were not for little kids. Jade got angry and started yelling at him, telling him off.

"I'm NOT a little kid!"

"Sure." Rufus rolled his beady black eyes.

"You should leave. We don't want you here." She grabbed Francis' sleeve and tried to drag him away.

"Bou-hou-hou. That hurt."

Jade wanted to kick him.

"Just because your bigger doesn't make you better!" she yelled.

"Really?" he answered sarcastically.

Jade was about to pounce on him and rip him to shreds when Francis spoke up.

"Go away, Ruff."

"Gladly." He said, walking down the stairs, but turned around for a moment and added: "Bye baby."

Jade looked at him angrily.

"You're brother's mean."

"Yeah. I know. Ever since Dad let him race, he thinks he's the best."

"He races?"

"Yeah."

"But he's too young."

"There is no age limit."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

They both shrugged and went back to their games. After about an hour, Pey'j called her down and said that they were leaving. Jade nodded, said bye to Francis and ran down the stairs.

As they left the Akuda Bar, Pey'j asked: "What do you think of the boys? Any new friends?"

"Rufus is mean, but Francis is okay, even though he's a show off."

Pey'j chuckled.

"Well, that sounds fun."

Jade shrugged.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Well, I'm going to go to the factory and look for a job opening." Jade's face fell. "Do you want to stay at a friend's? Or do you want to go back to the lighthouse?"

Jade thought for a moment.

"Can I stay with Nouri?"

Pey'j nodded. "Sure. Let's go find Kyura and ask her."

Kyura was more than delighted to have Jade for the day, but there was a compromise. Kyura needed Nouri to help her today, as today was the Market Day and most of her customers came that day to buy food because it was cheaper than usual, and they didn't have the new upgraded EasyUnits Decoder, where all the shopping was done automatically with just one EasyUnits card reading. Everything was manual.

Jade was happy to help, though, so Pey'j left her with the two woman.

Jade had never worked in her short life, and she realized now how hard it was, especially because there was never any break, except from right after lunch. Jade and Nouri enjoyed themselves though: for Jade, she felt really useful and it was fun to work with a friend. Nouri was happy to have a friend to help and it was a nice change from the usual. Kyura was a very business-like woman. She accepted no nonsense, and was the type of woman that would have been an ideal slave driver.

They spent the whole day selling off what seemed to Jade an interminable amount of merchandise. Her and Nouri often snuck a bite from some of the sugary treats and tried their best not to get caught by Kyura.

The stand was just closing when Pey'j appeared again to pick up Jade. She was tired but happy, and wanted to come back the next day again to help. Pey'j smiled. He had gotten the job and thought that this would be an excellent arrangement for him, because the work days were long. Kyura said that she didn't mind, and even offered to pay Jade. But Jade didn't have an account for any credit storing, so she bashfully said no, she didn't want any payment.

Nouri also was happy. So it was settled. Jade would spend the next few weeks working at the market on Fountain Square, except during Pey'j's day off.

Pey'j spent the whole summer working, with only a few day off's here and there where Jade could take a break from her work. But Jade enjoyed herself tremendously, it was fun and exciting for a girl that had never worked before and she was eager to help.

Pey'j made enough money to pay the doctor and the bills. He also had enough to buy food (although now Kyura gave them generous discounts because of Jade's hard work) and activate the shield during the next DomZ attack. There was only one attack after the last one where Jade had blacked out, and they had tried out the shield, that worked like a charm. ("See? Without the Alpha Sections, we would be in danger now!" "Hmph.")

Jade didn't understand her uncle's opinion about the Alpha Sections, but didn't bother him too much about it. Her uncle was as stubborn as she was, in most cases, a debate over the intentions of the Alpha Sections would be useless.

But soon a new event took up all of Jade's attention and energy: she was going to start Primary school soon. A week and a half after her birthday, she realized that her care-free days were coming to an end.

The summer went by so quickly; Jade could barely see it fly by. The next day, she would start Primary with Francis and Nouri and she was excited and slightly apprehensive.

"Don't worry about Jade. Ye'll see. It's pretty easy."

"I'm not scared!"

"I never said ye' were."

"You implied it." She mumbled.

"No I didn't missy. Ye' should be in bed. Big day tomorrow and all."

Jade looked at the setting Solaris.

"Am I allowed bringing my camera?"

"Nah. But doesn't mean ye' can't." He nudged his head towards her SAC. "They can't tell what's in there, can they?" Jade smiled.

"I won't need a schoolbag then." She said. Pey'j wondered if she had understood what he had been implying.

"Nope."

She smiled rather evilly, completely understanding.


	6. Chapter Six

Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Six**

¤¤¤

Jade walked nervously through the door of the Pedestrian District Primary School. Gulping at the amount of children aging ten to fourteen she walked as confidently as she could pretend.

'_I'm ten years old. I'm a big girl…'_

She watched a guy three times taller than her walk by her hurriedly.

'_Maybe not 'big' but…'_

Jade then found her classroom. On a big board out side the school there had been the class and room number of every student. Jade was in Class 001.4 in Room 6.

And at that moment, she was standing in front of a pink door with a big multi-coloured sign saying '**Room Six**'.

Jade sighed. Here it goes, she thought nervously (_'I'M NOT NERVOUS!'_ she corrected herself mentally). Walking inside the noisy classroom, she nervously spotted Nouri in a corner talking with a few other girls.

A few heads turned to look at Jade, but they didn't give her that much notice.

Jade's heart was beating a mile a minute.

She practically ran over to where Nouri was.

"Hey Nouri!"

"Hi Jade."

Jade smiled nervously.

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know." Said one of the girls Nouri was taking to. "I'm Seven. Like the number seven! Except not written like a number seven. You write it like 's-e-v-e-n'." Seven smiled widely.

Jade nodded.

"I'm only nine!" Seven jumped up excitedly. "I bet I'm the youngest girl in the school."

"When are you turning ten?" Jade asked curiously.

"Next year!" she smiled.

"But you're not allowed at school!" Jade exclaimed.

"I know!"

Jade nodded slowly, digesting the information. The official age to enter school was ten years.

Seven bounced around while Nouri looked at Jade and laughed.

"She's mental."

"Obviously." Jade said under her breath but smiled and nodded.

Francis must be in a different classroom, Jade mused, because at that moment the teacher came in, dressed in a frivolous, fluffy pink dress. She counted the students, more or less satisfied when she determined that everyone was there.

She had an unpleasant, thin triangular face and rather large front teeth, and she wore large round shaded glasses, covering her small beady eyes. Jade's first impression was that she was probably half rat.

She told all of the children to sit at the round tables, in any order they wished, but threatened them that if they uttered one word to their little friends, they'd be kicked out of the classroom. Jade gulped, feeling already discouraged as she sat between Seven (who could barely keep in place) and Nouri, who looked just about as nervous as Jade was.

The teacher then decided to drill the students, to test their knowledge.

Her name was Miss. Mowsey.

"You, the one with the big ears. Yes you! Come up here please. Now, answer me: what is 5 times 6?"

The boy with the large ears looked terrified. He answered in a small voice that he had never done that type of math.

Miss Mowsey looked put off.

"What?" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

"I never learned that." The poor boy looked on the verge of tears.

"And you passed the Placement Test?"

"That stuff wasn't on the H.P.T.!" Jade cried out.

Miss Mowsey's pointed face glared at Jade.

"Mind your business, little missy."

Jade crossed her arms and slouched down on her chair.

"But it's true."

"Not a word." The teacher snapped.

Jade scowled behind Mrs. Mowsey's back. A discouraged feeling swept into her mind.

This was going to be a long day.

¤¤¤

Mrs. Mowsey was Jade's only teacher that year, and Jade knew, by the end of that course, that there was no way in all of Hillys that that woman was not at least half-rat in personality. They say first impressions are often wrong, but Jade was certain that this impression was right. Mrs. Mowsey hated school, teaching, little children, books, math, and reading and did I mention little children? She hated children period. Jade ended up wondering why she ever became a teacher.

She already made two great friends in her class. There was, of course, Nouri, but Seven was also an incredibly nice kid. She gave up half her lunch to share it with Jade. Seven's dad was a racer, and they always had money to buy expensive things. Things that Jade usually had the chance to touch or eat on her birthday or when Pey'j suddenly found some cash. They weren't poor, and the government did pay them an annual rent to operate the lighthouse at night to guide the boats and aircrafts, but it wasn't much and Pey'j often had the little odd job to do to sustain both of them.

Seven had given her and Nouri a very rare type of food that originated from a very, very far-away planet. It was called a Berri. Because of the war, there were impossible to get. Seven's dad was a hovercraft racer, and he had recently been to a championship in Stella City, where he had found them off the Black Market there.

Berri's were delicious, but Seven didn't have any more. She promised excitedly that next time her father was in Stella City, he'd buy more.

She went home that day excited, chatting a mile a minute to Pey'j about her day and how wonderful it had been. Pey'j just smiled and nodded, happy that she was going to be fine.

There were four days of school, followed by three rest days. The rest of the school week was very interesting, and Jade realized how advanced she was compared to the rest of her class. Seven was also quite advanced, but that was because her parent's hired a tutor for her.

Mrs. Mowsey soon grew very annoyed with the outspoken ten-year-old with her little bit of an attitude. Jade also grew frustrated with her teacher who didn't seem to comprehend how Jade knew all of the things she knew. She knew the name of all the stars you could see at night and the planets in the Solaris System (Astronomy was an important subject, it was included in the Geography curriculum), she knew the name of most of the wildlife on Hillys, and she could read and write at a fairly advanced level.

Jade realized that she should have pretended to be ignorant when she unintentionally show'd off her skills during class. It would have saved her from Mrs. Mowsey's wrath, who although hated ignorant children, hated children who knew already what she was about to teach them even more. Thus she drove Jade harder than the others, to the point where Jade really wanted to kick her.

When the fourth day rolled around, Jade could see why many older kids hated School so much. It wasn't always boring, Jade decided, but it was annoying to be trapped inside a schoolroom for more than nine hours, plus the lunch and break times.

She saw the boy from Ming-Tsu's shop again. He smirked at her and Jade gave her best 'Jade-is-not-happy-look' back. This only resulted in a even wider smile from him and Jade stomping off.

Nouri and Seven became her very best friends. Seven lived in the more rich districts of the city, and was often not allowed down by the Akuda Bar or the Fountain Square because of the family's fear of her disappearing on them. Her family seemed to take the war quite seriously, even though there had been no attacks since the one in the summer.

Nouri worked with her grandmother Kyura after school, and sometimes Jade offered her help, but most of the time they just parted with a friendly goodbye and Jade went to the Akuda Bar to meet Pey'j.

¤¤¤

It had been four weeks since the beginning of school, and Jade and Nouri were sitting there backs against the Fountain doing there homework together. À

"Jade, I really don't get this!" Nouri almost whined, throwing her math papers on the ground.

"I hate math too." Jade agreed, but she picked up the calculations sheet (there were more than thirty multiplications) and noticed that Nouri had only finished about five of them, while she was almost done.

"Here. Just copy off me. There probably all wrong, but who cares?"

"Thank you!" Nouri hugged Jade quickly before picking the pencil back up and scribbling down the answers. "I hate Mrs. Mowsey. She never explains anything."

Jade nodded.

"How long is the year?" Jade asked.

"Um…It finishes early spring for us."

"You mean the Primary school?"

"Yeah. Secondary finishes in the middle of summer and begins middle of fall."à

"That sucks." Jade said.

Nouri smiled.

"I'm not going to Secondary school."

"What?"

"Grandma Kyura says that she might not be able to pay, and she needs someone to take over the market. You don't need a Secondary School diploma to do that."

Jade looked terrified.

"You mean I'll enter Secondary school alone?" she exclaimed, truly unhappy about the idea. School without Nouri? Separate the new trio of friends that she, Seven and Nouri had become? The idea disturbed Jade greatly.

"That's in a long time though." Nouri answered. "We have plenty of time." She smiled.

Jade nodded.

She noticed that Nouri had quickly scribbled down each answer from her paper.

Jade took back the paper. Sighing, she heard Pey'j call her from the passerelle across them that lead to the Akuda Bar.

"Jade. We're goin' home now!"

"Ok Uncle Pey'j!"

Saying a quick and cheery goodbye to Nouri, she grabbed her things and put them in her SAC before running to meet Pey'j. They walked to the parking and started the hovercraft, drove into and out the Main Canal and zoomed towards the lighthouse.

Jade looked out the front window and saw in horror as the sky started darkening prematurely.

They were under attack.


	7. Chapter Seven

I may not get many reviews, but I love this story too much. I can't stop myself from updating! LOL

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Seven**

Jade rubbed her red eyes. They were hurting because she had been crying for a little while. She put her long raven hair behind her ears and looked up at the bed where Pey'j was sleeping at. She bit her lip as she watched the fire crackle next to them. Outside there was no light, even the numerous stars where hidden in the black sky.

"_Hang on, Jade!" yelled Pey'j over the uproar as he put the hovercraft into full gear. Jade covered her ears and almost closed her eyes as her uncle started speeding. _

"_What's gonna happen?" she yelled._

"_We have to keep movin'! If we're lucky," he paused as the hovercraft was jerked sideways by a wave. Jade had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming as she was thrown off her seat._

"_-if we're lucky…" he said again, "we'll survive and not get hit…" he was wheezing._

_Jade looked at the sky through the hovercraft's front window panel. Gulping, she grabbed hold of a pipe that was lounging the wall and held on._

_During attacks, under the New Alpha Section mandate, the doors to the garage's of the city, shops, islands and even their lighthouse were to be closed to protect the people. So those who were stuck outside…were…well…stuck outside._

_Pey'j was thanking his stars that the hovercraft was hanging in. It never did fare too well with brusque manoeuvres._

_His ears picked up a heart-wrenching sound, and both Pey'j and Jade's hearts sank…_

_Put…put…clonk…_

"_Argh! You stupid hunka' junk!" Pey'j yelled in frustration as the hovercraft came to a stop._

_Jade couldn't believe her eyes. Her heart sped up incredibly, beating by far its previous velocity. _

_He opened a smoky panel to his right under the handles and started fiddling around._

_Fweooosh!_

_Splash!_

_A meteor landed right next to them, catching them both by surprised. Pey'j closed the panel shut and tried starting the engine._

"_Com'on you big piece of dog-wire!" Pey'j yelled. Jade closed her eyes and was silently praying. A phrase rang in her head over and over again…_

'_I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die!'_

_Put…Put…_

_Pey'j breathed in relief as the turbo-motor came back into gear._

_He pressed one of the pedals and swung the hovercraft around._

_Jade smiled in relief, but her smile and happiness would not last long. The hovercraft crashed into a wave, and for a moment Pey'j lost control._

_Jade noticed the sound of the attacks weren't as intense as they had been before. She dared open an eye and then the other as she realized the sky was reverting to its normal end-of-day-blue. _

"_We made it! We made it Uncle Pey'j!" she screamed in delight, jumping up and hugging the half-pig. _

They had made it.

But Pey'j had not been feeling too well.

"_Don't yell…Jade…Don't yell…" he huffed; out of breathe as he stopped the hovercraft from moving. _

"_Are you okay?" she asked, her voice filled with a frightened concern. _

"_I'm…alright…" he said slowly._

_Jade gulped._

They had come back to the lighthouse and Pey'j had practically collapsed on his bed near the fire and still hadn't woken up.

It had been hours…

Jade rubbed her arms, cold even though she was sitting next to the fire.

She glanced at the source of heat, and realized it was burning down…No wonder it was getting cold.

She suddenly heard her uncle grunt beside her.

"How long have I been out?" he asked groggily, eyeing Jade. "And shouldn't you be in bed?"

"But I was worried." Answered Jade in a small voice.

He smiled ruefully and sat up, back aching.

"No need to worry about me, it takes more than that to bring Pey'j down."

Jade shrugged. "Still…" she said.

"You should be in bed." He cut her off.

Jade glared.

"It's not even late!" she argued, the previous concern gone from her voice.

"Well, it's bedtime anyway!"

Jade looked at her uncle, annoyed, with her best Jade-is-not-happy look.

Pey'j laughed, but sent her to her room anyways with a cheerful 'good night' that was replied with a 'hmph'.

Pey'j looked after Jade as she climbed the circular ramp to head upstairs.

He sighed, deciding to go take a look in the stove or the refrion for something to eat, he was very hungry.

"_But..Ming-Tzu! You gotta help me!"_

"_I'm afraid not. I know that last time…Last time was last time, Pey'j. You have to let go of that past."_

"_But if you don't believe me-"_

_They both heard a crash._

Jade had interrupted them, quite by accident, as she was spying on them.

She really had the grace of an ox, that girl. Pey'j smirked. He knew she hadn't heard anything. She was much too curious and was the type that had trouble keeping a secret she didn't understand.

He wondered why his mind had ventured back to that time. It had been a while ago.

The attack smelled like old rotten fish. And where had been the Alpha Sections?

Pey'j hadn't seen any. He didn't even manage to use the new shield over the lighthouse. He would have to inspect for damage on the island later.

He walked out of the lighthouse.

He had to call Gary. Maybe he would believe him.

The half-pig hybrid walked down to the hangar and then into his workshop. He flicked the lights on and went to the computer, placing his Synthetic Atomic Compressor on the table and playing with some buttons.

Last time he had seen the Cary, who was probably much older by now, was about nine years ago. The old gang had separated rather quickly after everything had resolved.

Pey'j sighed.

The screen before him changed from the usual mono-channel TV broadcast and someone's dark face appeared through.

Pey'j didn't have a camera, so the man on the other side of the screen couldn't see his face.

"Gary?" Pey'j asked through the audio com.

"Gary…isn't here anymore…" replied a steady, deep serious voice.

This young man was wearing sunglasses. He looked a little like Gary.

"Where is he?" asked Pey'j.

"My father is dead." Answered the other.

There was an awkward silence as the words sunk in.

"What?" he asked, taken aback, "How?"

"About a month ago. During the DomZ attack before last, he disappeared."

Pey'j was silent. "I'm sorry."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name…just call me chief."

"Alright Chief. What do you want?"

"This is going to be a long story…"

The pig-man sighed once more.

"I hope you have the time."

"I do."

"Good, so listen up…"

¤¤¤

Hahn sat in his chair, having just caught of the communication with this so-called Chief. Should he believe what he was saying? It definitely made sense and would explain how the attacks had becoming more frequent with the Alpha Sections mysterious arrival. But maybe it was just a coincidence? Hahn realized that a lot was resting on his shoulders at the moment. A whole lot of things depending on choices he was going to make.

This Chief knew his father. Gary Johnson had been a strong, outgoing man, who somehow managed to elude inquiries about his past just as well as a Whale eluded being taken a picture of.

Well…sort of.

His father's disappearance had been…shocking, to say the least. Hahn was in his early twenties and he missed his father. He wasn't supposed to leave. Not yet, in any case. But he had been taken by the DomZ during that attack a month ago.

The Alpha Sections where the ones to tell Hahn and his sister about it. They had tried to save hi, but it had been too late. Hahn started resenting the Alphas since. They had proclaimed themselves so powerful, yet suddenly they were powerless to stop a kidnapping?

The Alpha Sections had explained that the changes of seeing him again where very slim, as the DomZ are very obstinate about their prey. They don't give up. They would probably suck the life force out of Gary, thus killing him at the end of a certain period of time. The Alpha Sections could give out no more information, as it was classified.

Hahn lived in one of the wealthier neighbourhood's in the Pedestrian District. From the window next to the communication device, he could see the Back Bay and Black Isle. They say the old mines were still bustling with activity; a looter's base seemed to have been installed there.

Hahn sighed, his mind returning to the task at hand.

"Hahn?" her sister, only two years younger than he was, called from the kitchen, "Are you alright? Who were you talking to?"

"It's alright, Jennifer. Everything is fine. Go to bed."

Jennifer nodded slowly, deciding to obey her brother's wishes for once. She was too tired to argue anyways. And she knew her stubborn brother. He took after his father in this manner, he was extremely stubborn. In reality a hard nut to crack. But a nice nut all the same. Jennifer rolled her eyes at the way her mind was processing her thoughts and decided it was time to hit the sack.

She walked down the small hallway contentedly, feeling sleep already overtaking her. She shut her door behind her, leaving Hahn in the living room.

The man stretched, taking off his sunglasses. He knew that nobody would believe him if he revealed his opinion about these newcomers, the Alpha Sections. He started writing an e-mail to Pey'j, agreeing with him but suggesting that for now, they take extreme precaution in revealing their opinions. They should keep to themselves and observe, and if their convictions were right, take action.

He pressed the blue 'Send' button on his machine, and erased the copy on his hard drive. He knew Jennifer would sometimes sneak around the computer while Hahn wasn't looking. No need to have her worry any more. Her father's disappearance had affected her greatly, wither she chose to display it or not.

Hahn sighed, rubbing his eyes and then stared out the dark window once more before making his way to his own bed.

¤¤¤

The days rolled on slowly. Jade continued her schooling with Seven and Nouri, enjoying life as a young girl should. Pey'j soon abandoned his job at the factory, his account full for the moment. He was getting bored of it anyways. He put an add in the paper, saying he could fix anything, from little gizmos to Air ships, and got a few demands. None lasted too long however.

Soon, fall passed and the Hillyan winter rolled by, but they lived in a more or less tropical climate and snow was extremely rare. Jade knew what it was, but had never seen it. The closest she had seen was the ice in the Refrion, the refrigerator they had back at the lighthouse.

Mrs. Mowsey got as unpleasant as ever as the days grew colder and she even took a sick leave for two weeks. Well, needless to say, it was official party time for Jade's class, class 001.4!

For some reason, there were no new attacks.

Jade enjoyed the piece greatly.

The ten year old girl decided to invite her friend's over to the lighthouse one day. She invited Seven, Nouri, Francis and unfortunately Rufus tagged along.

There was to be no school the next day so they were all extremely happy.

"Alright, so…" Jade started, getting everyone's attention.

"What do we do?" Seven asked, hyper as ever, her black hair held up in pigtails bouncing up and down as she jumped excitedly.

"I dunno. What do you wanna do?"

"Can we go to the top of the lighthouse?" Rufus asked, eyeing the stairs from where he was standing.

"Not allowed." Jade shrugged, knowing fully well that Pey'j wasn't around to notice.

"Who cares?" added Francis, his curiosity now awakened.

The boys made their way up the ramp so Jade and the other two followed. Jade scoffed into Rufus' back. That boy was a real prick.

She placed her hand on the panel with the luminescent hand print on it and watched as the door opened.

"Com'on. It's up this way." She said to the other's who had been looking around the second floor.

They reached the top of the lighthouse and were all, except Jade who was used to it by now, blown away by the beauty of the view. They could see a lowering Solaris beyond the ocean, near the Third and Fourth Racetrack.

"This is awesome!" said Nouri, smiling brilliantly. Jade beamed.

"It is so totally cool!" Seven said in a sing-song voice, twirling around in a circle.

"Look! You can see the 4rth and 3rd racetrack from here!" Rufus exclaimed, pointing towards the far, yet large, island. "My dad raced there yesterday!"

"Really? My dad did too!" Seven exclaimed. "What position did yours come in?"

"Second." Rufus beamed proudly.

"Mine came in first!" Seven chirped, smiling happily.

"What?" Rufus yelled.

"Yup! He even got a pearl! It's so pretty!" She said joyfully.

Rufus sulked for quite a while after that, his pride rather damaged. Seven, of course, was completely oblivious to this.

"Let's go back down." Jade said, and they followed behind her. She closed the door leading to the lighthouse, and they all piled into her room.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Francis in his funny accent.

"Let's play a make-believe game!" Jade exclaimed, and Nouri and Seven nodded. Francis looked as his big brother. Rufus scoffed.

"A baby game?"

"NO!" Jade yelled, getting riled up by his sneer, "We choose a person who we want to be and then we play in a make-believe world!"

"It's fun!" Seven smiled.

"Yeah, maybe. For babies."

"We're not babies!" the three girls yelled simultaneously.

"Suit yourselves."

Jade looked furious. She went over to him and slapped him.

"Get out of my room, you shark-head!" The half-shark boy snarled and was about to retaliate when the others, including Francis, came in between.

Rufus and Jade didn't speak to each other for the rest of the evening, but other than that, everything went fine. Pey'j dropped of Nouri after Seven and Francis' parents picked them up, and when he returned, he found Jade in his workshop, playing around with the M-Disk decoder.

"Jade! Don't touch that!"

"But I found the disk under a Starkos in the Refrion. I just wanted to check it out. I don't know how this thing works though…"

"It's late Jade, you should be in bed."

"I have no school tomorrow and I already finished my homework. I am not going to bed yet."

Jade looked as stubborn as she could look, and Pey'j knew he was going to loose this battle before it even started.

"Fine…only for fifteen minutes though."

"Forty-five."

"Thirty."

"Deal." Jade smiled happily, all traces of determination gone from her face. Her green eyes looked at the M-Disk. "There's nothing on it."

"It's probably a blank one. Give it to me. They're valuable."

"Ok…" she said slowly, handing it to him.

"How about you show me some of your pictures and we print them?"

Jade grinned. She had three rolls of film to develop.

"Ok!" she agreed, reaching to her side to grab her camera and the film from the SAC.

She handed the film to Pey'j, she closed the lights and the started develloping all of her photgraphs.


	8. Chapter Eight

This is a really short chapter. Enjoy.

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Eight**

The snow-less winter ebbed away rather quickly and the beginning of a warm and foggy spring started. Jade was finishing her first year of Primary School, and was happy to say that she was in the top three of her class.

She had grown only half a foot taller, and was starting to reach her short Uncle's height, which, needless to say, earned a proud and bittersweet chuckle from Pey'j. His little girl (although, officially, she was his niece) was growing up.

There were no noticeable happenings, no DomZ attack, no important parties…nothing. It was an odd stillness, blended with the joy of a returning summer. Jade, personally, was almost ready to give up her camera for the beginning of spring and the end of school.

Finally, it came.

The last day was a fun one. A fair was organized in the Primary school's recreational center, which was a large room that was used for Physical Education or recess, and it opened with large, see-through double doors to an outside courtyard.

It was there that she finally learned the name of the black haired boy that had caught her spying on her uncle months ago. His name was Li.

"Li?" Jade repeated. That was an odd name. She had never heard a name like that before.

"Yeah." He answered. His hair was covering his eyes. "You're Jade."

"How'd you know?"

"You live at the lighthouse with the pig. Ming-Tsu told me. He's my grandfather."

"What?" Jade stuttered, forgetting that he had called Pey'j a pig. She eyed Li with her bright green eyes. He was human in all appearances. Yet Ming-Tsu was not human…She was confused, and Li could read the curious confusion on her face.

"He adopted my dad." He said simply.

"Oh." Jade said quietly, her voice apologetic. She felt bad for prying.

"Don't worry about it." He said. This wasn't a big deal for him apparently.

Jade nodded, uncertain of what to say or feel. She decided to remain silent for now, waiting for the boy to speak.

"Where…where are your parents?"

"My mom lives outside the District. I live with Ming-Tsu on school days 'cause it's closer to school." He said simply.

Now that Jade had actually met him and talked to him, he seemed…a lot less annoying. A lot more human. He was approachable.

She had often looked back on that picture of him by his friends, in front of the large television not too far from the newsstand she had taken that day last summer. She'd wondered who he was. But she'd never asked any one about him. She liked having…a secret? She shrugged inwardly. She didn't know what to call it.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm ten…you?" she replied.

He smirked.

"I'm thirteen. Next year's gunna be my last year in this hell hole."

Jade winced at the language.

Her uncle often used ruddy, harsh language, but there were limits. And she was forbidden to talk the way he talked. She often wondered why, and he answered that the more sophisticated you acted, the bigger chance you had at being a good reporter. She had frowned, replying that that was going to be no fun, but he had been firm about this. It was only later that she had realized that being sophisticated didn't stop you from having an 'attitude', or being sassy and sarcastic. She had grinned rather evilly to herself, and Pey'j not having understood the sudden change in her pensive expression, had raised one eyebrow, but he had let it be.

When Jade came back to Hyllis from her thoughts, Li had left her standing there, and was no where in sight.

All remotely kind thoughts about him were once again terminated as she put on her infamous Jade-is-not-happy look and stomped off, angry for him just leaving her there.

Pey'j found her soon after, and offered to go home. She agreed, found Nouri and Seven (Francis was no where in sight, he had probably left earlier or something), said goodbye, and left the School. They walked on the School's dock where the hovercraft was directly docked, jumped in and left.

The hovercraft was starting to act up again, much to Pey'j's annoyance.

"Darn thing!" he swore, and Jade found herself thinking once more about Li.

"Pey'j," she asked, as they were leaving the Main Canal, "Do you know a kid called Li?"

"He's Ming-Tsu's grandson, no?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I've never met him, although I've seen him before. He was very little though." he said.

"I met. He goes to school with me and he's thirteen years old. He's the kid that stopped me when I went in looking for you in Ming-Tsu's shop."

"You mean that was Li? He's older than I thought. Last time I saw him, which was ten years ago, he was three." Jade nodded, taking in the new information.

Somehow, her brain figured, everything was linked. She had to find that link. She had to!

Before she knew it, they had arrived at the lighthouse.

"Can I stay up late, Uncle Pey'j?" she asked as they docked the hovercraft.

Her uncle sighed.

"Alright, if you insist."

She jumped up happily and walked up the ramp, rushing outside the garage.

Pey'j sighed, closing the engine and turning off the hovercraft's power. He walked up the stairs slowly, staring at the stone wall…

_You'd be proud, Alec, you'd be proud._


	9. Chapter Nine

**SnapShot**

_By Ryuu no Taiyo_

**Chapter Nine**

It was a warm but rainy Hillyan summer. Rain was rather rare that time of year, and Jade found herself stuck inside the lighthouse, cooped up by various windows, watching the rain. And it poured. Jade, who had been looking forward to freedom all school year long, was sporting her best Jade-is-not-happy look and was bored.

Pey'J sat by the radio on a little stool, watching Jade for a couple of moments before making up his mind.

"Whaddya wanna do today, Jade?" he ventured, knowing that he was risking a temper tantrum from the young girl. And the weather zapped all the energy out of him; he did not want to deal with the young girl's ranting.

Jade huffed. She puffed a couple of stray raven locks out from in front of her eyes and turned to look at Pey'J.

"I'm bored. There's **nothing** to do, Uncle Pey'J." she whined.

Her uncle laughed.

"You're a spoiled brat, aren't you, Miss-Grace-Of-An-Ox. Always needing this old ham to entertain you!"

"You're not an old ham!" Jade said indignantly.

Pey'j chuckled again.

"In any case, I've got a surprise for you."

Jade's eyes lit up and she jumped up from her scrunched up position. She hopped up and down.

"What is it? What is it?"

Oh the troubles that seem to be forgotten when you give your child a toy. Pey'J laughed.

"Let's take a tour in the Pedestrian District, waddya think?"

"Uh?" Jade oh-so intelligently replied.

It took them about half an hour to get ready to go and confront the rain. Jade was told to get dressed in some good 'sporty' clothing and to grab a sweater, or at least some heavy garments to protect her skinny little body from the rain. She also put on a good pair of sandals. Feeling ready, she went outside, ran through the rain and into the Workshop, and down to the dock where the hovercraft lay. It hadn't been used in a couple of days, since the downpour began.

Jade hummed a little, a song she'd often heard on their radio. She couldn't wait to see what Pey'J wanted to show her, but she tried not to fidget to much and let it show.

_Action reporter Jade must learn how to be in total control of herself. _

Smiling to herself, she got caught up in a rather exciting reverie…

"Com'on, girl! The tug boat is waiting for you!" her uncle called from inside the hovercraft.

Blinking a couple of times, she skipped from the dock to the little floating boat, and watched the metal door close.

¤¤¤

The rain clamoured down from the skies. She was glad her bulging sweatshirt completely covered her down to her knees, and he S.A.C. holding her precious camera was safe from the wetness.

Why she was heading inside Ming-Tzu's shop she didn't know. Pey'J refused to answer any of her questions and she was getting tired of waiting.

Really tired of waiting.

They stepped inside and out of the rain, finally. Pey'J, without missing a beat, hurried inside, towards the counter where he greeted the old man.

"Hey, Ming-Tzu. I'm here for you know what!" Pey'J said rather cheerfully, winking visibly.

Jade rolled her eyes, and had she not known better, she could have sworn the old half-walrus did too.

"So!" she said, feeling too irritated to care about how impolite she was being. "What's the surprise?"

Pey'J rolled his eyes.

Ming-Tzu hid a smile behind his long tusks, but went to the door that led to the back.

"Wait here." Was all the old one said.

So they did. Jade fidgeted. Pey'J questioned himself again. Was this a good idea?

Maybe he was wrong. Was it too early?

But there was no way of stopping things now.

Jade frowned. Pey'J seemed unhappy.

"Are you alright, uncle Pey'J?"

The half-pig smiled. "Sure, girl. I'm just tired, s'all. Good use a nice drink at the Bar, after all this!" he chuckled slightly, covering up his worry. Jade rolled her eyes. Ming-Tzu reappeared in moments.

He did no go back behind the counter, however. Instead, he went right towards the two, and stopped in front of the young raven-haired girl.

His strange hands were holding a long thing object.

"This is rightfully yours, child." He said without emotion.

Pey'J watched the interaction carefully. Jade looked afraid for a couple of moments.

"For me?" she said in a small voice. But she knew the answer.

Her small fingers folded around the thin object. And the brown paper covering it seemed to shred away, falling off in torn pieces.

"It is the right time, Pey'J." Ming-Tzu nodded to his old friend.

Jade looked at the odd object. It had grown considerably larger the moment her fingers had grazed it.

She dared her arm to move. Was she…afraid?

"Pey'J, what…is it?"

Pey'J looked at Ming-Tzu imploringly.

"It's called a Dai-Jo staff. It's used in fighting, back on my home planet in the River Constellation."

Her eyes widened, and a smile unlike any other made its way on her face.

"It's…for me?"

The two adults nodded, and a nice smile formed on Pey'J's face. He had been rather worried about the whole ordeal.

"THANK YOU!" the little girl squealed and rushed to hug the two adults (much to the awkwardness of Ming-Tzu, naturally, but he hid it with good grace).

_She doesn't even know half of it yet…_Pey'J inwardly sighed.

"Everything is settled then." Ming-Tzu said.

"Uh?" Jade asked, looking at her uncle with bright green, curious eyes.

"The training will commence immediately."

A silence enveloped the small room.

"T-training?" Jade stammered.

Pey'J let out a roar of laughter, somehow finding the situation amusing. Jade glared at her uncle. Why did grown-ups always keep younger kids confused?


End file.
